There are plenty of things you may take for granted in how your body works, like how your arm knows to extend when you need to reach for something. But what about how your body feels temperature changes like warmth and cold?

Here’s a little biology for you: our bodies are equipped with cells called “thermoreceptors” that are in charge of detecting changes in temperature and then reporting those changes to our brain.

The widely accepted science is that there are some thermoreceptor cells dedicated to detecting cold and some that are dedicated to detecting hot. Those cells are only activated within certain temperature ranges, and when temperatures get into more extreme ranges, a different kind of cell called a nociceptor takes over. Nociceptors are in charge of informing your brain that there’s something out there that can cause damage to your cells.

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But, just like we saw 20 years ago with the demotion of Pluto from planet status to 'dwarf planet,' science can constantly change and new theories can emerge.

The plot twist:

The science behind the question of how thermoreceptors may be changing. A new study has proposed that instead of some thermoreceptors feeling warm temperatures and others feeling cold, all thermoreceptors feel both warm and cold.

Essentially, thermoreceptor cells just react differently to different temperatures, becoming more active in cooler conditions and less active in warmer.

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This may not seem like a pretty small deal (literally), but there are some pretty important things we can learn once we understand how these cells work, like what can help with thermoreceptors degrading with age.

From small scale to large:

Heat is the number one deadliest type of weather in the U.S., and it is an even larger threat to older generations. This is an especially concerning trend as we see more frequent and more intense heat waves globally from a warming climate and as the planet’s population grows older on average.

Thermoreceptor cells get less effective as we age, which may play a role in elderly people’s struggles with internal temperature regulation, especially during heat waves.

By understanding how the cells work, therapies can become more effective at treating ineffective thermoreceptor cells. That will help experts protect people from the dangerous impacts of heat.

Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.